Well, here it goes. My first story ever! Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the CCS characters. Everything else is mine.

Mastery of War

Prologue


Tangaora wasn't always like this. It was once a world of beauty and creation, wonder and inspiration; but then the wars started, and everything changed.

Akena is the only land mass existing on Tangaora, surrounded by a vast ocean of shimmering blue water. Akena was divided into four provinces, each ruled by a powerful clan: there was the Clow Province of the North, the Ishida Province of the South, the Miyamoto Province of the East, and the Takiyama Province of the West.

For a while, the inhabitants of Tangaora lived peaceful, happy lives. Of course, it didn't last forever. The Ishida Clan was growing restless - they wanted more wealth, more power. Ishida Kaito was determined to bring a Province under his control. He launched an attack on the unsuspecting Miyamoto Clan. Being rather pacifistic, Miyamoto Ryota did not have an army capable of withstanding the sheer, brute force of Ishida's. The war was over in less than a year. The Miyamoto Clan had fallen to Ishida's ruthless army, and their people were enslaved.

Following in Ishida's footsteps, Takiyama Goro began lusting for more power. A year after Ishida's victory over the Miyamoto's, Takiyama declared war on the Ishida Provinces. A bloody war ensued, and many people died. It lasted four years, with Ishida Kaito emerging the victor when Takiyama Goro and the rest of his Clan were killed. The surviving people under Takiyama's rule surrendered and became Ishida's slaves.

The Clow Province is the only province in Tangaora that has not fallen to Ishida's rule. That is not to say that he does not desire it. No, he has never tried to conceal that his life's greatest ambition is to murder Clow Reed and assume control over the Clow Province. Even with his recent triumphs and abundance of men for his army, Ishida knows that the Clow Clan will not be easily defeated. They are different; they are Marae. Marked people possessing supernatural abilities – magic, if you will. They protect the ordinary Tangaorians living in their Province. But everyone has a weakness, and Ishida Kaito is biding his time until he finds theirs.

…

"YA!" a voice screamed, her fist flying towards her opponent. Her opponent smiled and blocked the attack, quickly ducking and kicking out her leg, attempting to knock her attacker off her feet. The girl realized her opponents intent and jumped back to avoid the kick. They stood apart, each girl planning her next attack.

They charged at each other, quickly closing the small distance between them, fists and feet striking at all angles. Both girls struggled to get the upper hand, but every blow was blocked effortlessly. One of the girls misjudged the kick from her opponent and she was knocked into the ground. Her opponent flipped back, assuming a fighting stance.

The girl who fell to the ground lay there with her eyes closed, her honey brown hair plastered to her face as she took short, staggered breaths. She was young, with soft facial features and a lean, athletic body.

Her opponent broke her stance to wipe away a few beads of sweat from her brow. She looked more delicate than the other girl, with porcelain skin and a petite frame. They were in a clearing in a forest, surrounded by green trees and bushes. The sun was at its hottest. There was no wind to provide relief from the sweltering heat, and the shade from the trees did little to help the situation.

"Come on Sakura, get up! We didn't come here for you to lie on the ground all day!" the girl standing said lightheartedly while ruffling the dirt out of her long ebony hair. Sakura opened her eyes and slowly pushed herself up from the ground.

"Don't worry Tomoyo. I'll continue kicking your butt in a minute!" She laughed, fixing her own hair. "Right now I just want to take a minute to breathe; this heat is ridiculous!"

Tomoyo scoffed and crossed her arms. "You? Kick my butt? Sakura I believe that it was I who knocked you down. Not vice versa," she said with an air of confidence, fanning herself a little with her hand. Sakura responded by rolling her eyes. "But you are right about the heat. It makes it hard to breathe out here."

"Yea, don't get too confident though, cause I won't let it happen again." Sakura said smugly with a grin on her face. She resumed her fighting stance and motioned for Tomoyo to attack her. "Let's go!"

Tomoyo laughed and nodded as she resumed her stance. They circled each other cautiously until Sakura let out a cry and charged towards Tomoyo, unleashing a series of kicks. Tomoyo caught Sakura's leg and brought her knee towards her stomach. Thinking quickly, Sakura jumped and brought her other leg crashing towards Tomoyo's head. Tomoyo was forced to let go of Sakura's leg and flip out of the way of the attack. Sakura landed on her hands, pushed herself up, and twisted so that she was facing Tomoyo.

"Tomoyo, you're fighting like a girl!" Sakura taunted. Tomoyo looked at her thoughtfully.

"Maybe. I thought I should take it easy on you since you went down so easily before!" Tomoyo threw a hard punch to Sakura's face without waiting for a reaction, and she barely managed to block it.

"Minor slip Tomoyo, minor slip!" Sakura defended, blocking the barrage of punches Tomoyo was throwing at her. She threw one of her own, but Tomoyo caught her arm and flipped her. Sakura rebounded from the flip with a double kick. Tomoyo pivoted away and retaliated with a high kick. Sakura caught her leg and flipped Tomoyo onto the ground.

"Nice one." Tomoyo commented, still lying on the ground.

"Thanks!" Sakura beamed, offering her hand to Tomoyo to help her up. Tomoyo smirked, took her hand, and brought Sakura crashing down right beside her.

"Tomoyo!" Sakura whined, rubbing her rear end. Tomoyo laughed, pushing her hair out of her face as she sat up beside Sakura. "It's not funny."

Tomoyo looked at Sakura seriously. "You're right it's not," she looked Sakura up and down and wrinkled her nose. "The training clothes I made for you are covered in dirt!"

"Don't worry Tomoyo," Sakura said, putting her arm around Tomoyo's shoulder. "That just gives you an excuse to make me another set." They looked at each other and then laughed, knowing that Tomoyo would do just that. She had a passion for designing clothes, and an obsession with using Sakura as her model.

"And I have just the outfit in mind," Tomoyo grinned, pushing herself up from the ground and walking towards a log on the edge of the clearing. "Want your water?" she called to Sakura as she picked up her own bottle and took a large gulp. Sakura looked at her and nodded as she pushed herself up.

"Yea. Water sounds really good right now," she replied, wiping some of the sweat off her forehead before catching the water bottle Tomoyo launched at her. She drank half the bottle before lowering it and used the back of her hand to wipe away the excess water on her mouth. She looked up at the descending sun in the sky, and her eyebrows furrowed in thought. Her eyes widened as realization dawned on her. She looked at Tomoyo, who seemed to have reached the same conclusion – they were late. Again.

"Your mother's going to kill us!"

"No she won't, just run! We're no later than last time." Tomoyo reasoned, throwing Sakura her towel and breaking into a run. They dashed through the forest, dodging trees and branches and jumping over any boulders or roots that happened to be in their path.

…

Daidouji Sonomi was a patient woman, or at least, she liked to think that she was. Raising two teenaged females tended to test the limits of her patience. She sighed and looked up at the sun setting in the pink sky. It must be after six by now, she thought, absently sipping the red wine in her crystal glass. She looked at the food on the table and wondered if she should have it reheated.

Sonomi drummed her delicate fingers on the table impatiently. She wanted to be angry. She should be angry. They had made a habit of being late recently, and they had disrupted the order her every day schedule usually maintained. But she wasn't. They needed to know how to fight, no matter what the many deluded minds in Shara thought. Her terra cotta eyes narrowed as she stabbed a piece of her steak with her fork.

They're all fools. She shoved the meat into her mouth and chewed it. Nobody was safe, not even the inhabitants of Clow, from Ishida's impending invasion. Not even the Marae had the power to deter him indefinitely.

She jabbed her potatoes with her fork, let it drop, and leaned back in her chair. The people in Shara weren't taking the threat seriously. Shara was left in a vulnerable position. It rested on the border between the Clow Province and what used to be the Takiyama Province. Ishida would start snatching small towns right under Clow Reed's nose until he felt that he had him cornered, with nowhere left to go. She gulped down the remaining wine in her glass.

The false sense of security that had seized many Clow citizens would be their downfall; at this rate, their kingdom would fall faster than the Miyamoto's. More innocent people would be killed ... the anger she was feeling lessened as her mind drifted to Sakura.

She was so young, so lucky to- The two girls, panting and hunched over with their hands on their knees, interrupted Sonomi's thoughts.

"So-Sorry… mom. We … We got caught up fighting a-and -"

"W-We ran back … as fast as we could."

Sonomi's eyebrows furrowed as she watched them, their eyes meeting hers, begging for forgiveness. Her gaze lingered on Sakura's eyes, a rare shade of emerald. Sakura shifted nervously under her stare. Her eyes were so familiar. She had only known one other person with those eyes - an old friend. But that was impossible....

"We're really sorry…" Tomoyo and Sakura offered, noticing the sudden downcast look on Sonomi's face. She quickly recovered.

"Yes, I know. You've had the same excuse for the past few days. I'd appreciate it if you girls could put as much effort into monitoring the time as you do in your fighting." She looked at them, proud of the sternness she mustered in her voice. Before they could speak, she continued, her expression lightening. "Now go wash up and hurry back before the food gets any colder."

Nodding, the two girls ran out of the kitchen towards the stairs without speaking a word. As soon as they were out of sight, Sonomi's expression turned somber. She had realized something, and she was worried. She needed to contact him. He needs to know.

…

"Your mom was unusually quiet tonight, especially considering that we were late. Again." Sakura commented, flopping onto her bed while rubbing her full stomach. She looked over at Tomoyo, who had sat down beside her.

"Yea she was." Tomoyo agreed. She looked down at Sakura with a thoughtful expression. "I think that she understands. You know, how much all this stuff with Ishida means to us. Especially to you, Sakura."

Sakura nodded and then stared up at her ceiling. Her room was moderately sized, coated in a light shade of pink. A large window took up most of the wall to the right of her bed, and overlooked their residential street. Pink and white drapes were drawn back, giving her a full view of the street lamps brightening up the star studded sky. Her old, four-poster bed was adorned in white and pink sheets to match the rest of her room. She looked back at Tomoyo, waiting for her to continue.

"She's always saying how the people in Clow shouldn't depend on the Marae so much, that we're all acting exactly as he wants us to."

"I know Tomoyo. But, it was more than that. She was pale and ... worried." Sakura said emphatically. She sat up and shuddered as a cold tingle rippled up her spine. Oh no. Every time that familiar tingle ran up her spine something bad happened. She thought back to Sonomi's uncharacteristic worry. Can she sense it too?

She left the bed and walked towards the window. She squinted her eyes as she scanned the streets for any possible signs of danger. There were none.

"Sakura? Sakura what's wrong?" Tomoyo's anxious voice brought Sakura out of her reverie. "Sakura?"

Sakura turned away from the window to look at her bewildered friend."Tomoyo," She began, her eyes downcast and her voice solemn. "I have a feeling that something bad is about to happen."

Tomoyo stared at her disbelievingly. She half-expected Sakura to burst into laughter and brag about how well she fooled her that time. "You're joking, right?"

Run. "No, but I wish I was." Sakura stated, turning back to the window. She was perturbed by the silence outside; there was no movement, no sign of life. She couldn't be wrong. She'd had this feeling before, eight years ago. The feeling hadn't been familiar to her then, but it was the same inescapable feeling of dread.

Sakura scanned the street again, looking for any sign of the danger she felt. She could feel Tomoyo staring at her, and knew that she was growing impatient. She could hear her fingers drumming on the nightstand, a habit she had inherited from her mother. But she would have to wait. A faint orange glow at the end of the street caught her attention. It was like the glow cast from the street lamps, but more sinister in a way. The color deepened and flickered in the sky as it glided towards them. Sakura's heart dropped. "Tomoyo, we have to leave now!"

"Leave? Why? And go where exactly? Sakura, this isn't funny." Tomoyo said, her arms crossed and her eyes glaring at Sakura skeptically.

Run. "I swear to you on my life I'm not joking. Tomoyo you have to trust me. Please, we need to leave right now!" Sakura pleaded. The feeling was getting stronger, and she knew that they needed to get out of the house before it was too late.

Tomoyo could sense the urgency in Sakura's voice, and she could see the worry etching its way onto her face. This was real. They needed to leave. She nodded. "Okay. What about my mom?"

Sakura smiled with relief. "Thank you. I'll go find your mom. Just pack a few changes of clothes and meet me downstairs in two minutes."

"But -"

Run now. "Tomoyo, there's no time. Just grab what you can."

AN: So what'd ya think? I know it's short and maybe a familiar theme, but I just wanted to give people a taste to see if this is something they might be interested in. Let me know ... reviews are greatly appreciated!

xoxo Rae